Standoff: Ala. gunman kills bus driver, seizes boy

By PHILLIP RAWLSAssociated Press Published: January 30, 2013 11:47 PM

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. -- Alabama law enforcement authorities say negotiations are ongoing with a gunman who has been holed up with a 5-year-old boy for more than a day after snatching the child off a school bus and fatally shooting the bus driver.

Alabama State Trooper Charles Dysart told news media gathered near the site of the standoff late Wednesday that nothing in the situation has changed. He said no additional information would be released until Thursday morning.

SWAT teams have taken up positions around the gunman's rural property and police negotiators are trying to win the 5-year-old's safe release.

Authorities initially said the boy was 6, but a state lawmaker who has spent time with the kindergartener's family says he does not turn 6 until next week.